Town comparison · Sligo vs Wicklow

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Sligo or Wicklow?

Both towns measured at town level, not the wider Eircode area, on the same 53 figures: prices, schools, amenities, social life, commute, affluence and safety.

Sligo, Co. Sligo · F91 · 19,522 people | Wicklow, Co. Wicklow · A67 · 12,150 people

Sligo is the stronger town on the data. It leads on 4 of the 7 dimensions to Wicklow’s 2, with 1 level.

Sligo leads on
schools & amenitiespublic transportsafetyaffordability
Wicklow leads on
affluenceaccess to its nearest city
3698

Sligo aheadlevel or not comparableWicklow ahead

AffluenceEducationAmenitiesTransportSafetyAffordabilityCity access
SligoWicklow
iSligo sits in F91, Wicklow in A67. Each figure below is tagged with the geographic level it’s actually measured at. The town ahead on a row is the one in green. Scores and percentages are charted against a true 0 to 100 scale; every other row is charted against the larger of the two towns, so the bars compare but don’t imply a ceiling.

Outlines are each town’s CSO Small Areas — the exact footprint every figure is measured over.

Sligo
Wicklow

Size

TOWN · census

Resident population at the 2022 CSO census, summed over the Small Areas that make up each town. Not scored: a bigger town isn’t a better one, it just explains why the counts below differ.

19,522
Population
12,150

Prices & market

TOWN · exact
€250k
Median sale pricelower is better
€417k
Sligo leads
€178k – €336k
Typical range (P25–P75)
€325k – €524k
1,216
Sales (24m)
1,902
+19.9%
Price momentum (YoY)
+11.8%
13.9%
New-build share
17.8%

Schools, health & amenities

TOWN · counts

Facilities in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. Bigger towns naturally score higher — read alongside population.

9 prim · 5 sec
Schools
4 prim · 4 sec
Sligo leads
Sligo · 14 schools (largest first)
Summerhill College Secondary
1,108 pupils · 75% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Mercy College Secondary
676 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Ursuline College Secondary
632 pupils · 70% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Sligo Grammar School Secondary
495 pupils · 85% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELANDFee-paying
Ballinode College Secondary
246 pupils · 35% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
S N Ursula Primary
444 pupils · Catholic
Our Lady Of Mercy N S Primary
437 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Carraroe N S Primary
403 pupils · Catholic
Scoil Eoin Naofa Primary
263 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Gaelscoil Chnoc Na Re Primary
211 pupils · Catholic
Carbury National School Primary
211 pupils · Church Of Ireland
St Edwards N S Primary
204 pupils · CatholicDEIS
St Brendans Ns Primary
185 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Sligo Project School Primary
47 pupils · Multi DenominationalDEIS
Wicklow · 8 schools (largest first)
Coláiste Chill Mhantáin Secondary
933 pupils · 50% to 3rd-level · INTER DENOMINATIONALDEIS
Dominican College Secondary
473 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CATHOLIC
Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School Secondary
375 pupils · 40% to 3rd-level · MULTI DENOMINATIONALDEIS
East Glendalough School Secondary
366 pupils · 65% to 3rd-level · CHURCH OF IRELAND
Scoil An Choroin Mhuire Primary
425 pupils · Catholic
Wicklow Educate Together Ns Primary
382 pupils · Multi Denominational
Padraig Naofa N S Primary
369 pupils · CatholicDEIS
Glebe Ns Primary
207 pupils · Church Of Ireland
31
Creches
18
Sligo leads
3
GP practices
1
Sligo leads
15
Pharmacies
4
Sligo leads
5
Hospitals
0
Sligo leads
102
Bus stops
21
Sligo leads
1
Rail / Luas stops
1
21
Gyms & leisure
12
Sligo leads
15
Parks & playgrounds
7
Sligo leads
63
Sports pitches
26
Sligo leads

Social life

TOWN · counts

Places to eat, drink and go out in and around each town — each counted once, for the town it’s closest to. The residents per venue row is the fairer read — raw counts just track town size, so a big town wins by being big.

22
Restaurants
5
Sligo leads
21
Cafés
7
Sligo leads
39
Pubs & bars
8
Sligo leads
15
Takeaways
5
Sligo leads
3
Nightclubs
0
Sligo leads
4
Cinema & theatre
0
Sligo leads
188
Residents per venuelower is better
486
Sligo leads
#13 of 65 large towns
Most vibrant (national)lower is better
#55 of 65 large towns
Sligo leads

Day-to-day

TOWN · counts

The errands you run without thinking about them. Same caveat — read the residents-per-service row alongside the counts.

8
Supermarkets
4
Sligo leads
21
Convenience shops
5
Sligo leads
10
Bakery, butcher & greengrocer
2
Sligo leads
6
Banks
4
Sligo leads
3
Post offices
1
Sligo leads
9
Hairdressers
4
Sligo leads
3
Dentists
2
Sligo leads
3
Vets
1
Sligo leads
11
Filling stations
2
Sligo leads
7
EV charging
7
7
Library & community centre
0
Sligo leads
222
Residents per shop or servicelower is better
380
Sligo leads

Commute by car

TOWN · from centre

Drive time from the town centre to each city centre — typical off-peak, with an estimated weekday rush hour. OSRM road routing.

164m · ~200 rush
Dublinlower is better
50m · ~85 rush
Wicklow leads
239m · ~255 rush
Waterfordlower is better
98m · ~110 rush
Wicklow leads
122m · ~145 rush
Galwaylower is better
178m · ~200 rush
Sligo leads
168m · ~185 rush
Limericklower is better
167m · ~185 rush
Wicklow leads
247m · ~270 rush
Corklower is better
194m · ~215 rush
Wicklow leads

Affluence & profile

ELECTORAL DIVISION
-6.2
Affluence (Pobal HP)
-4.6
Wicklow leads
Sligo · 10 EDs, poorest → richest
-13Sligo NorthDisadvantaged
-11Sligo EastDisadvantaged
-8Sligo EastBelow average
-6Sligo WestBelow average
-6Sligo NorthBelow average
-2Sligo WestBelow average
0KilmacowenBelow average
+4KnockareeAbove average
+4KilmacowenAffluent
+6KnockareeAffluent
Wicklow · 4 EDs, poorest → richest
-8Wicklow UrbanDisadvantaged
-5Wicklow UrbanBelow average
-2Wicklow RuralBelow average
+1Wicklow RuralAbove average
37.4%
Third-level educated
36.7%
Sligo leads
29.8%
Professional class
38.6%
Wicklow leads
15.5%
Unemploymentlower is better
14.5%
Wicklow leads
50.4%
Owner-occupier
68.0%
Wicklow leads
29.5%
Private rental
14.7%
16.1%
Social housing (LA)
14.3%

Liveability & safety

AREA · F91 / A67

Wider-area figures, not the town. Quality of life & rank are for the whole Eircode area each town sits in (Sligo → F91, Wicklow → A67); safety & crime are the Sligo/Leitrim Garda division.

71/100
Quality of Life
61/100
Sligo leads

Quality of Life is the equal-weighted average of these seven 0–100 dimensions, scored for the whole Eircode routing area (F91 / A67) from official data — Garda crime, CSO income & census, OPW flood, EPA water, and transport/healthcare/broadband coverage. Refreshed quarterly. The dashed line is each town’s overall score (that average) — dimensions to its right beat the average, to its left fall short. Two towns can share a score with a very different mix.

SligoWicklowOverall (avg)
Safety71756170
Affordability10068
Infrastructure6946
Family7577
Education5235
Environment8282
Economic4547
020406080100020406080100
#10
National ranklower is better
#77
Sligo leads
#1
County ranklower is better
#4
Sligo leads
75/100
Safety
70/100
Sligo leads
37.3
Crime / 1,000lower is better
43.8
Sligo leads

Affluence range

Pobal HP deprivation index, published per Electoral Division, so the spread shows the town’s poorest to richest ED. A town that is a single ED shows one mark, no range.

Sligo Below average-6.2
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Sligo North -13 (least affluent) → Knockaree +6 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.
Wicklow Below average-4.6
← more deprivednational avg · 0more affluent →
Spread across the town: Wicklow Urban -8 (least affluent) → Wicklow Rural +1 (most affluent). It straddles the national average.

How accurate is this, and at what level?

TOWN
Prices, amenities and commute are exact and town-specific.

Prices come from individual PPR sales inside the town’s Small-Area boundary; schools, GPs, transport, gyms and parks are counted the same way; commute is routed from the town centre.

ED
Affluence, profile and tenure are Electoral-Division level.

Published per Electoral Division and averaged across the town’s EDs, with a range where the town spans several.

AREA
Liveability and safety are wider-area, not the town.

Quality of life and rank are per Eircode routing key; safety and crime are the Garda division (Sligo/Leitrim), coarser than a town, so two towns in the same county read the same.

Population growth isn’t shown: the 2016 and 2022 censuses don’t use the same Small Areas, and the areas that were re-cut are the ones that grew, so a like-for-like comparison understates growth badly. Rent and yield are still too sparse to show per town. Built from 121 CSO Small Areas.

Homes for sale in Sligo

The stronger town on the data.

Compare somewhere else

Put any two Irish towns head to head, or step up to the wider Eircode areas.